20 Sep
2010
20 Sep
'10
5:47 p.m.
Where, when and how do you find them most effective
when incorporated in a
program?
The Medley is a special case of the "no walk-through" slot which incorporates
more than one dance. For my money, a nice mini-medley is three dances
coordinated with the three tunes that the band plays. By "coordinated" I only
mean that when the tune changes, the dance sequence changes, too.
When do you program them? During an "Experienced Only" evening, anytime (except
maybe the first slot, when the sound system is still being balanced). During a
community dance (lot of beginners -- mixed/low level of dancing), never.
The general rule is that you want to ADD fun, excitement, spontaneity and energy
to the event. If you wind up adding frustration, panic, anxiety and failure to
the event, then you have chosen the slot poorly.
Tips for teaching?
Since they are no-walk-thru, you don't teach them, per se. However, excellent
and special calling is required of no-walk-thru dances. I have led a workshop
at NEFFA describing how you do this, and here are some highlight
recommendations:
1. Get the call out early, and fill in with patter to preserve the timing.
Usual prompt: ___ ___ ___ ___ THOSE two LAdies CHAIN acROSS
No walk-thru: ___ ___ ___ ___ LAdies CHAIN acROSS the SET
2. Put recovery information in between calls:
PARTner SWING [ on the men's home side ]
3. Keep the calls up, especially for similar sequences.
Any other comments?
Make sure you select material that is achievable by you (as a caller) and the
dancers without a walk-thru. Keep it straightforward (embracing contra tropes)
and fun.
Dan
20 Sep
20 Sep
7:54 p.m.
New subject: Medleys
An experienced caller once told me that medleys are useful is when there
aren't a lot of dancers, maybe towards the end of an evening. It helps
keep a dance interesting, and you can run it longer. I've tried this
and it works well.
This past summer, I had the pleasure of sharing the bill at the dance
festival with Nils Fredland. One of the workshops was an hour long
medley, and I learned a lot about medleys from Nils. Before that, I had
put dances together based on formation (becket or improper) and the
first moves of the dances being similar.
But Nils showed me how to change from improper to Becket so you can use
both kinds of dances. Basically, it means looking at the beginning
moves of each dance, and the end moves. With enough attention to those
areas, it became easy to move from one formation to the other.
For example, let's say you are dancing in Becket, and the last move is a
partner balance and swing. If you can find an improper dance that
begins with a circle left one time around and swing your neighbor (like
Roll in the Hey), you could change that move, JUST THE FIRST TIME
THROUGH THE DANCE, to a circle left three places and swing your
neighbor. That way, from the partner balance and swing, you would move
everyone to the same side of the set as their neighbor for a swing.
Once I began looking at my dances with that goal in mind, I found many
more possibilities. It takes some creativity on the part of the caller,
but for me, that is one of the things I like about it.
On another note, and while I have your "ears", I have a question. As
callers, if you feel you are losing your voice, or you have a cold, is
there anything you have found that can help clear your throat?
Thanks.
8:56 p.m.
New subject: Medleys
On the subject of vocal inflammation, which is the reason you lose
your voice, I have more experience as a singer than as a caller. If you
are truly very ill and the bug is in the tissues perpetually renewing
the inflammatory response, there isn't a whole lot you can do in the
short term, but I have had success with: ice (cold takes down the
inflammation quickly, but it doesn't last long, so count on keeping it
up), cooled ginger tea, cooled mint tea, ginger and mint both have
antinflammatory properties, honey, thai coconut soup, slippery elm
lozenges, salt gargle, or if you are out and can't do a home remedy eat
salty food that is a little oily (like a salad with fish or chicken and
vinaigrette, or a good soup or stew), drink icy drinks and get some
halls or something to get you through till you can really take care. It
goes without saying, that rest is the preferred remedy.
Yours,
Andrea
On 9/20/2010 3:54 PM, Mortland, Jo wrote:
An experienced caller once told me that medleys are useful is when there
aren't a lot of dancers, maybe towards the end of an evening. It helps
keep a dance interesting, and you can run it longer. I've tried this
and it works well.
This past summer, I had the pleasure of sharing the bill at the dance
festival with Nils Fredland. One of the workshops was an hour long
medley, and I learned a lot about medleys from Nils. Before that, I had
put dances together based on formation (becket or improper) and the
first moves of the dances being similar.
But Nils showed me how to change from improper to Becket so you can use
both kinds of dances. Basically, it means looking at the beginning
moves of each dance, and the end moves. With enough attention to those
areas, it became easy to move from one formation to the other.
For example, let's say you are dancing in Becket, and the last move is a
partner balance and swing. If you can find an improper dance that
begins with a circle left one time around and swing your neighbor (like
Roll in the Hey), you could change that move, JUST THE FIRST TIME
THROUGH THE DANCE, to a circle left three places and swing your
neighbor. That way, from the partner balance and swing, you would move
everyone to the same side of the set as their neighbor for a swing.
Once I began looking at my dances with that goal in mind, I found many
more possibilities. It takes some creativity on the part of the caller,
but for me, that is one of the things I like about it.
On another note, and while I have your "ears", I have a question. As
callers, if you feel you are losing your voice, or you have a cold, is
there anything you have found that can help clear your throat?
Thanks.
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2 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
-
Andrea Nettleton -
Dan Pearl -
Mortland, Jo